Pottstown Y swim team looks for new home after coach firing

Amy Agnew, at right, is one of 10 Pottstown YMCA swim team assistant coaches who resigned en masse on July 2, 2014, to protest the unexplained firing of head coach Kathy Cook by YMCA management. (Photo by John Strickler / The Mercury)

Cook was dismissed June 11, and on July 2 all 10 of her longtime assistant coaches resigned in unison and in protest of Cook’s dismissal.

That action could mean the demise of the Pennsylvania State YMCA defending Indoor champion Seahawks swim team.

No way, the coaches say. The group is searching for a home pool to keep the Seahawks team intact and continue its tradition of success.

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“Right now we’re in search of a new facility where we can train,” said Seahawks assistant coach Amy Agnew, speaking for all the assistant coaches. “We want to get the word out that we are moving on, trying to turn our anger into something positive. We want to take Kathy’s values and her high ideals into a new program.”

But they need a new home pool to do so.

“Right now everybody is practicing at their own summer league team pool,” Agnew said. “Our kids came from 12 different school districts and everybody usually swims for their summer team in the summer — in Birdsboro at Maple Springs Pool, at Amity Pool in Exeter, at Hillside, Laurelwood, at Nine Oaks in Royersford. Then we get back together in September for stroke and turn clinic, working on techniques, and in October, our season starts.

“The outside pools all close Labor Day weekend,” she added. “That’s when we are stuck.”

Agnew said the group has a sense of urgency to find a pool “so we can get ourselves in place by, at least, early October.”

Why not just go to another YMCA?

Agnew answered, “Most of the Ys in the area belong to the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, and we are not going to associate with them anymore. They would have to change their leadership. And we need a lot of apologies.”

The Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA took over the Pottstown location in a merger last year and, according to assistant coaches, management of the regional organization showed little interest in keeping Pottstown’s successful programs. The assistant coaches said it seemed obvious that changes were made to set up Cook to fail. A two-time state champion, Cook swam for the Y and has coached there full time since 1999.

No explanation has been given for Cook’s abrupt dismissal last month by Pottstown YMCA Executive Director Dan Albert.

John Flynn, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, told The Mercury, “This is really a personnel matter, and we can’t discuss personnel matters.”

Agnew said she has not personally spoken with Albert.

“I know coach Bill Draves, coach Mark (Agnew, her husband) and coach Catherine Fink had a meeting with Albert after Kathy was fired,” Agnew said. “And they tried to reach out to learn what, exactly, was going on.”

And they got no answers, Agnew said. She said they also tried to reach out to Flynn, but did not hear back from him.

“It’s extremely heartbreaking to walk away from the YMCA,” Agnew said. “A lot of us have been with different Y organizations for a long time. I learned to swim at the YMCA when I was little in Virginia. We all have been associated with different Ys for so many years in some capacity. It’s been a great thing and a blast for all of us, and we got that all taken away.

“Yes, it was our choice to leave, but we didn’t feel we could look our kids in the eye or ourselves in the eye, look in the mirror, because of the dishonesty and the disrespect that we all encountered through it. So we have to go our own way and start a new program.”

The coaches have checked with all the area schools who have pools — Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Upper Perkiomen, The Hill School, even Ursinus College.

None of the pools contacted thus far has available time. The YMCA program has 250 swimmers and Agnew said they hope to get 100 to 150 to follow them.

“Our first job is to find a pool. Several of the coaches are meeting with various people in the surrounding communities in the next couple of weeks to explore different options.

“We’re even thinking about the idea of, maybe, trying to bubble a local outside pool and see if we can raise money for that. If they are expensive, we don’t know if it’s feasible this year, but it could be feasible in the future. We’re floating out all kinds of possibilities. Of course, there is the issue of money. We don’t have a lot of money to start with. We’re going to have to ask our parents to put in money to start with, so we want to be conscious of the cost because we always try to do that as an organization so it’s affordable to everybody.”

Agnew said the group hopes to take the name Seahawks with them.

“Through Kathy Cook, we really developed as a family and we felt like this (Cook’s dismissal) was a death in the family, just losing her as our sort of matriarch, the founder and leader. She instilled a lot of great values, has been a fabulous role model for all of us, built the whole staff, and we really love each other and care for each other. And we want to stay together. And we love the kids.”

“We are exploring the idea to set up a fund where we can take donations for a bubble pool,” Agnew said. “We have not made that decision yet. We are currently trying to find an existing pool that we can use as a practice facility for our team. We might even have to split up our kids among a couple different pools. That’s an option if we can find a couple different places.

“We are determined to find a solution. Because we feel we built something special, obviously under Kathy’s guidance, with the program we had, and we want to continue that. We have a great group of parents, a fabulous board at the Y and we’re hoping to keep as many as possible.

Agnew said that despite the “awful” situation, there is a positive side.

“Kathy and her family and all of us as coaches have been so amazed by the love and the caring we have seen from the community. Not just our swimmers, not just our swimmer parents, but people in the community. I’ve been stopped at church, at work, at our swimmers pool, by our friends. And I know all the other coaches have as well. Everybody is just sharing their support and their love for us. We’ve seen a lot of love and community, ironically, come out of this.”

About the Author

Rosemarie Ross is a veteran sports reporter for The Mercury. A native of Germany, she began her career with the former United Press International pioneering the role of women in sports reporting. She was worked in Trenton, Phladelphia and Patterson, N.J. and has covered pro sports and boxing. She is a member of the National Hall of Fame for her boxing coverage. She covers high school sports -- and loves it. Reach the author at rross@pottsmerc.com
or follow Rosemarie on Twitter: @RoseRoss31.